The federal government on Monday admitted that 75 persons have died from the cholera outbreak currently rampaging some parts of the country.

Making the disclosure in Abuja, the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, added that 374 people have been affected by cholera.

He said the casualty spread across states in the country including, Lagos, Oyo, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Plateau, Nasarawa.

He spoke at the 2013 Physicians’ Week, organised by the Nigerian Medical Association.

Although the minister said the outbreak was being brought under control in respective states, he blamed the outbreak on poor personal hygiene, open defecation and poor sanitation, which he noted were behaviours not solely under the purview of the health ministry.

He said, “What now leads to the rapid spread of cholera is lack of personal hygiene — people go to latrine or urinate and they fail to wash their hands afterwards,” he warned.

Chukwu urged for stronger efforts across concerned sectors to address open defecation and poor sanitation, both risk behaviours which encouraged the spread of cholera.

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